ADVANTAGES OF CSEB
• A local material
Ideally, the production is made on the site itself or in the nearby area. Thus, it will save the transportation, fuel, time and money.
• A bio-degradable material
Well-designed CSEB houses can withstand, with a minimum of maintenance, heavy rains, snowfall or frost without being damaged. The strength and durability has been proven since half a century.
But let’s imagine a building fallen down and that a jungle grows on it: the bio-chemicals contained in the humus of the topsoil will destroy the soil cement mix in 10 or 20 years… And CSEB will come back to our Mother Earth!
• Limiting deforestation
Firewood is not needed to produce CSEB. It will save the forests, which are being depleted quickly in the world, due to short view developments and the mismanagement of resources.
• Management of resources
Each quarry should be planned for various utilisations: water harvesting pond, wastewater treatment, reservoirs, landscaping, etc. It is crucial to be aware of this point: very profitable if well managed, but disastrous if unplanned!
• Energy efficiency and eco friendliness
Requiring only a little stabilizer the energy consumption in a m3 can be from 5 to 15 times less than a m3 of fired bricks. The pollution emission will also be 2.4 to 7.8 times less than fired bricks.
• Cost efficiency
Produced locally, with a natural resource and semi skilled labour, almost without transport, it will be definitely cost effective! More or less according to each context and to ones knowledge!
• An adapted material
Being produced locally it is easily adapted to the various needs: technical, social, cultural habits.
• A transferable technology
It is a simple technology requiring semi skills, easy to get. Simple villagers will be able to learn how to do it in few weeks. Efficient training centre will transfer the technology in a week time.
• A job creation opportunity
CSEB allow unskilled and unemployed people to learn a skill, get a job and rise in the social values
• Market opportunity
According to the local context (materials, labour, equipment, etc.) the final price will vary, but in most of the cases it will be cheaper than fired bricks.
• Reducing imports
Produced locally by semi skilled people, no need import from far away expensive materials or transport over long distances heavy and costly building materials.
• Flexible production scale
Equipment for CSEB is available from manual to motorized tools ranging from village to semi industry scale. The selection of the equipment is crucial, but once done properly, it will be easy to use the most adapted equipment for each case.
• Social acceptance
Demonstrated, since long, CSEB can adapt itself to various needs: from poor income to well off people or governments. Its quality, regularity and style allow a wide range of final house products. To facilitate this acceptation, banish from your language “stabilized mud blocks”, for speaking of CSEB as the latter reports R & D done for half a century when mud blocks referred, in the mind of most people, as poor building material
